Duda misses win, three share lead @ GCT Superbet Romania
Fighting draws were the order of the day, with GMs Caruana, MVL and Praggnanandhaa sharing the lead with 3.0 points after the fifth round of the GCT Superbet Chess Classic Romania at Grand Hotel, Bucharest. It was also the day when Polish GM Duda Jan-Krzysztof possibly missed putting it across world champion Gukesh Dommaraju in an absorbing Queen’s Gambit Declined game.
The Gukesh – Duda game rose from the QGD with the Polish GM going in for a solid position. Gukesh moved away from an early queen trade-off with 14. Qb1 showing intentions to fight for a win. Avoiding 25. Nxe4 Gukesh took the game into danger zone, risking everything. Giving up the Knight later, Gukesh went all out, slipping a bit in the middle, ultimately squeezing out a draw by perpetual checks.
With a high stake of $ 350,000 prize money one can expect a fight through the whole tournament. This nine round GCT classical event concludes on 16th May, 2025. After a day of rest on Monday, the sixth round is scheduled to begin by Tuesday, 13th May 2025, at 3 PM local time.
Gukesh Dommaraju (2787) drew with Duda Jan-Krzysztof (2739) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. Rc1 c5 8. dxc5 bxc5 9. Bd3 Nc6 10. O-O Ba6 11. cxd5 Bxd3 12. Qxd3 Nxd5 13. Nxd5 Qxd5 14. Qb1 e5 15. Bg3 Qe6 16. h4 f6 17. h5 Rfd8 18. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 19. Rxd1 e4 20. Nd2 Rd8 21. Nf1 Nb4 22. Rxd8+ Bxd8 23. Qd1 Bb6 24. Nd2 Nxa2 25. h6 gxh6 26. Qh5 f5 27. Nc4 Qf7 28. Qxh6 Qxc4 29. Qg5+ Kf7 30. Qxf5+ Ke7 31. Qxh7+ Kd8 32. Bh4+ Kc8 33. g4 Qe6 34. g5 Qg4+ 35. Bg3 Qxg5 36. Qh3+ Kd8 37. Qh8+ Kd7 38. Qh3+ Kd8 39. Qh8+ Kd7 40. Qh3+ Ke7 41. Qh7+ Kf6 42. Qh8+ Ke6 43. Qc8+
43…Kf7? (43…Ke7 will keep the advantage) 44. Qd7+ Qe7 45. Qf5+ Qf6 46. Qd7+ Qe7 47. Qf5+ Qf6 48. Qd7+ Qe7 49. Qf5+ 1/2-1/2
Results (Round 5): Aronian Levon (2.5) drew with Firouzja Alireza (2.5), Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (3.0) drew with Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (3.0), Gukesh Dommaraju (2.0) drew with Duda Jan-Krzysztof (2.0), Abdusattorov Nodirbek (2.0) drew with Deac Bogdan-Daniel (2.5), So Wesley (2.5) drew with Caruana Fabiano (3.0)
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Picture Courtesy: Official Site
